


It Was Bound to Happen (So Just Keep Movin' On)

by notsodarling



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Best Friends are still Best Friends, Communication, Gen, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22719172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsodarling/pseuds/notsodarling
Summary: Alex and Maria talk about Michael.
Relationships: Maria DeLuca/Michael Guerin, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 28
Kudos: 47





	It Was Bound to Happen (So Just Keep Movin' On)

**Author's Note:**

> Fair warning, there are no villains here.

Alex is scrolling through the email on his phone when he senses someone walking toward the booth he’s occupying. Lifting up his head, he watches as Maria slides into the seat, looking determined.

“Hey,” she says, voice quiet.

“Hey yourself.” He straightens up a bit, closing out the email app, and flipping his phone over to silence it.

Maria’s got her bottom lip pulled between her teeth, her fingers are wrapped around the necklace she always wears, a gift from MImi at high school graduation. Alex can assume why she’s here, and what she wants to talk about, but he decides it might be better if she talks first. He doesn’t want to assume wrongly, and end up in a conversation  _ neither _ of them want to have.

He catches Liz out of the corner of his eye, standing at the counter, her eyes shifting between the two of them, and Alex knows she’s silently asking if they’re okay. He nods in response and turns his attention back to Maria.

“This would be so much easier if you hated me,” she starts, and Alex is taken aback. Even if this is about Michael, does she really think Alex could ever  _ hate _ her?

“Maria-”

“No,” she interrupts, her voice firm. “No, I hate that you're not. Because it makes it worse.” She pauses, dropping her hands to the table and taking a deep breath, but still not looking  _ at _ him. Her gaze is pointed at somewhere past his right shoulder.

"Maria,” Alex tries again. “If this is about Michael-"

"It is," she confirms, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, a technique Alex recognizes as something he also did in high stress situations to calm his own inner thoughts. "Because he came by the Pony the other morning, and I just- I  _ like  _ him, Alex."

"I know."

Finally, her eyes meet his, the surprise evident, like she hadn't expected her actions to be so clear. But he'd known, he'd seen it that day he'd stopped by the Pony when he'd learned about them. Had tried to ignore the awkwardness between them in the days afterwards every time they talked. Can’t deny that he’d skipped the gala at the UFO Emporium because he couldn’t bear the idea of being back there in that place, even after all these years.

"You-"

"Maria." He smiles, reaching out and taking one of her hands in between his own, trying to comfort her in the midst of this awful conversation. "It's  _ okay _ ."

"How?" Her voice is so small, timid like she's expecting him to be angry. But for what?

"We're not together," he clarifies, and it's the truth. There have been times since his return to Roswell that he's wished things were different for them. But right now, they're  _ not _ what the other needs. And Michael certainly didn't need to fall into his old habits, even though they both knew he's been spiraling in the wake of Caulfield, and meeting his mother for the first (and only) time, and Max's sacrifice to return Rosa to the land of the living.

"But I felt it, you're  _ hopeful _ . And I'm-"

Alex shakes his head. It didn't matter what he was feeling, he's loved Michael for ten years already, and he'll love him for a lot longer. That, he knew, was likely to never change.

"I do love him, Maria. If that's what you're asking. But as for  _ us _ , he and I - it's complicated. There's a lot that's happened." Alex knew he wasn't helping this already difficult situation, and that talking about this with her was awkward. But her knowledge of specifics, especially the things concerning aliens and government conspiracies, she was still in the dark about.

"Why  _ him _ ?" She scoffed absently, and for a moment Alex thought she was asking him a question before he realized she was chastising herself for her feelings. It was something he recognized, having done the same thing numerous times over the past ten years.

They let silence fall between them, and Alex picked at the plate of fries he'd been working through before Maria had joined him at the table. Just as he was about to dip one in his mostly-melted chocolate shake, he saw Maria frown and stick out her tongue.

"I can't believe you  _ still _ eat your fries that way."

"No better way to eat a fry," he replied, continuing the action before popping the ice cream covered fry in his mouth.

"You should still hate me."

Alex rolled his eyes. "For what? Because you fell for someone who cares about you? That's not a crime, Maria."

He watches her shake her head. "Because he's your Museum Guy!"

"Please let that die already since you know his name now." Alex smiles, reaching out again and giving Maria's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm not  _ staking claim _ on him. We're all adults here, and no one did anything wrong."

Which wasn't the complete truth. Alex had wished Maria had come to him sooner, had told him about her feelings for Michael, how conflicted she'd clearly been feeling over the situation. But he also knows that she'd had limited information, knew he hadn't completely opened up to her about Michael. And he had no idea what Michael had told her, but it had to have been more of the same one he was trying to have if Michael had gone to visit her at the Pony, and she was now here saying he should  _ hate her _ .

"I kissed him, Alex. I knew how you felt, and I kissed him."

Oh. That made a bit more sense.

"It's just," she paused, and he watched as she looked around, once again unable to look at him while thinking about her own feelings. About this mess they'd somehow landed in. "He's been there for me, and I like him, and he showed up that morning, and I just decided, for once, to take something I wanted. I just wish-"

Alex nods, understanding.

"I get it." He watches as her gaze finally lands on his own. "I think I'm angrier at myself, for pushing him away, for not trying harder. I hurt him, and I have a lot to make up for when it comes to Michael."

“I know you probably had reasons for not wanting to talk about him,” Maria replies finally, the concern etched into her features. “And I don’t need you to tell me why, I don’t need you to justify why you kept him to yourself. But, you know you can, right? Talk about him?”

Alex chuckles, shaking his head. It sounds  _ ridiculous _ to talk about MIchael with her, when both of them have feelings for him like this.

"I tried to push him once, into talking about you. But he wouldn't, just kept saying it was over. And I should have talked to you, but I didn't know  _ how _ . So I just took his word, and didn’t."

Alex smiles, because it had been the truth. At least some of it. They haven't been  _ together _ in months, but Alex had thought, maybe wrongly, that they'd been working toward something better. Getting a chance they’d never been allowed in the past ten years.

"We're talking now."

"Yeah, after I feel like I've fucked up my relationship with my best friend."

"Jeez Maria, you could never do that."

"I  _ am _ sorry for not talking to you sooner."

"Right back atcha. Maybe if we both had, we wouldn't be in this mess."

She nods, a small smile on her face. He doesn't think they're completely better, doesn't know how any of this is going to work moving forward. Alex isn't even sure how he's going to handle trying to move on himself, if that's even possible. But what he does know is that he's not losing Maria, that they will always be friends, and that even someone like Michael Guerin isn't going to be the thing that causes a rift between them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3
> 
> [Come say hi on tumblr!](https://jumbled-nonsense.tumblr.com/)


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